Superior Hardware
Starting at $2,699, Corsair offers four Voyager a1600 configurations, each featuring an AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS processor, AMD Radeon 6800M graphics card, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB NVMe solid-state drive. It is powered by Windows 11 Home. It has a Ryzen 9 6900HS processor and twice as much memory and storage as the standard model, all at $2,999. Windows 11 Pro is available with any setup for an extra $50. The Voyager a1600 is also available from Origin PC, a Corsair-owned builder of custom computers. If you purchase the Voyager from Origin, you may customize it with up to 64GB of RAM and one or two SSDs of your choice, in a range of types and capacities. The Voyager maintains a reasonable temperature on the left and right sides of the laptop even when loaded and the fans are running at full speed, keeping your hands at ease when gaming. The middle of the keyboard does get heated, especially around the top. With slim, powerful computers, you have to put up with loud fans.
On our battery rundown test using streaming video, the laptop's huge 99Wh battery lasted 5 hours, 4 minutes with the display brightness and earphone volume both set to 50%. The Voyager may be charged through USB-C with a 100-watt converter even though it comes with a 230-watt adapter for charging and gaming power.
A 16-inch IPS display with 240Hz and 2,560x1,600 pixels is included with every option. In all, it's a great screen, especially if your major priorities are a fast refresh rate for fluid graphics and simple target tracking with 1440p gaming. However, it only covers 75% of Adobe RGB, DCI-P3, 69% NTSC, and 97% of sRGB if you need wide color gamut coverage, and its brightness is only 359 nits.
The body has an odd appearance and unique dimensions for fitting into the laptop compartment of a backpack thanks to the combination of the large 16:10 display and the strangely tall hinges.
Corsair used ultra low-profile Cherry MX mechanical switches for the keyboard. When typing or playing games, the clicky switch provides pleasant tactile stimulation.
Software To Match
Without some useful software to go along with it, the Voyager's fantastic hardware wouldn't be nearly as effective. For example, AMD Radeon Software: Adrenalin Edition offers a number of settings to maximize the performance of the CPU and both integrated and discrete graphics. When AMD SmartShift Max is turned on, the laptop will intelligently decide whether the GPU or processor needs to be running at higher speeds. When the laptop is unplugged, SmartShift Eco uses integrated graphics to conserve battery life. When the laptop is plugged in, it switches back to discrete graphics. To enhance performance on or off battery power, lessen input lag, and sharpen image detail, try a few extra features. The iCue software from Corsair's line of gaming accessories is now available on the Elgato Stream Deck. With the use of this app, Corsair wireless mice, keyboards, and headsets can be connected as well as the keyboard lighting and key assignments changed.
Audio both in and out is excellent. Dolby Atmos processing provides support for the upward-firing speakers that surround the keyboard, which have a pleasant, clear sound.
You can use them for conference calls or casual listening, but for anything else, you'll need external speakers or a headset (a pair by Corsair, perhaps). Streamers will sound fine even without an additional mic because the integrated mics produced impressive results.